Monday, April 02, 2007

Call, Call @ Fax!

This just in from FAIR...

Call Your Senators Today and Urge Them to Reject the White House Guest Worker Amnesty Plan!

For weeks, White House officials have been meeting with Senators in back-door sessions, attempting to negotiate a guest worker amnesty program that will attract substantial support—especially from Republicans. Yesterday, as a result of those negotiations, the White House released a new guest worker amnesty plan to gauge reaction on Capitol Hill, hoping it is positive enough to encourage many Senators to sign on.

Call your Senators’ district offices today and urge them to reject this plan!

As reported by CongressDaily, the convoluted White House plan creates not one, not two, but three guest worker programs. The first program grants amnesty to illegal aliens currently in the country by first granting them legal status through “Z” visas, which are renewable indefinitely. In addition, those holding Z visas are eligible to apply for green cards. The plan incorporates a “touchback” requirement for green card applicants (like the Flake-Gutierrez bill), but only heads of households would have to make the token trip and the Z visa would guarantee them the right to re-entry. Green cards would be given out first to those who had higher skill levels, but all illegal aliens would still be eligible to apply.

The second guest worker program, intended to cover a broad set of workers, awards visas to “guest” workers for two years, but the visas could be renewed for a total of six years. Between each two-year period, workers would be required to return to their home countries for six months. These “guest” workers would also be able to apply for green cards. The annual cap is not defined, but will be set by the administration based on “market need.”

Call your Senators’ district offices today and urge them to reject this plan!

The third guest worker program targets low-skilled workers and combines the current agricultural (H-2A) and unskilled (H-2B) guest worker programs. These “guest” workers could remain in the country for nine months and would be required to return to their home countries for three months, but renewals under the seasonal program would be unlimited. In addition, these guest workers would also be able to apply for green cards.

The plan has a trigger of that consists of several border security provisions, including the addition of adding more border patrol agents and the construction of 370 miles of fencing (only about half of what the Secure Fence Act calls for). However, the trigger only requires the partial implementation of the new documentation requirements and partial implementation of the employment eligibility verification system before the new guest worker amnesty plan begins.Call your Senators’ district offices today and urge them to reject this plan!

Through its new plan, the White House has demonstrated its stubborn determination to accommodate illegal aliens and low-wage foreign workers—all at the expense of the American worker and the American middle class! It is imperative that you tell your elected officials that you oppose this plan!THIS WEEK MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT WEEK THIS YEAR FOR YOU TO CONTACT OR VISIT YOUR SENATOR.

Senate leaders have said they plan to have immigration legislation on the floor before Memorial Day. And beginning today, the Senate starts a week-long recess during which most Senators will be back in their home states. While your Senators are at home, please call their district offices and urge them to reject the White House plan.

Tell your Senators:

The White House has created nothing but a convoluted, deceptive plan that pretends to reform our immigration system, but in reality is intended to placate special interests.

We don’t need a guest worker amnesty program to end illegal immigration; we need an administration that is willing to enforce the laws already on the books.

The Department of Homeland Security is entirely unequipped and unprepared to handle a mass guest worker amnesty program—the Department cannot even handle its current workload and has no effective program in place to track when foreign workers (or any visitors for that matter) leave the country.

Guest worker amnesty programs displace American workers and depress wages—there are no jobs Americans won’t do for a living wage!

Amnesty rewards criminal behavior and does nothing to end illegal immigration; instead it only encourages more illegal immigration.

Amnesty is inherently unfair to people all over the world who play by the rules, wait their turn in line, and come to the U.S. legally.